Cat and Mouse
by Samkin-lone-Senshi
Summary: Lelouch as a vampire and Suzaku the vampire are chasing each other throughout time. When Suzaku feels close enough, his former friend slips more into a vampire madness.
1. Chapter 1

Cat and Mouse

Disclaimer: I do not own Code Geass...

Part 1: The Blood

When Suzaku woke, he could feel the awakened vampire senses kick in, he never asked to be a vampire. Rising from his bed, he slipped on a shirt and slacks, he looked around the empty attic that he had shared with his friend, Lelouch. He knew that if he wasn't careful his half mad friend would have brought home someone.

Lelouch's mind was consumed with wanting blood, the more he got the more insane he became over the centuries. Suzaku had to watch over him, had to keep his promise to Nunnally who had long been dead, at least for the last two hundred years.

"I promise, I will watch over your brother," he remembered telling her the first time Lelouch was trapped in a coffin. He remembered the screams and the taunts, for the first time, Suzaku couldn't remember a time where things didn't become insane.

That time, that one time, he walked into the cell, Lelouch lying on his side, his breathing labored. C.C. warned that it wouldn't get better, it would get steadily worse and though with V.V. and Charles gone keeping Lelouch from going completely insane. Things became much worse now.

The red eyes with the dangerous Geass were controlled, as long as no one could look into his eyes, the idea to blind Lelouch to poke out those eyes came up a few times.

Suzaku didn't predict much of his friend's reaction, only that Lelouch choose to close his eyes, he felt around blindly, using his sense of smell to find out what he wanted. The words mumbled and almost hard to understand, then came close to a normal set of sentences. "That is you, Suzaku, how nice to have company," sitting down on a coffin, the fact that once Lelouch was able to control himself, able to hold back, but the vampires did their damage.

"Why did you let them turn you into a vampire, Lelouch?" Suzaku finally asked, his friend reached for a blanket wrapping himself in it.

"To control the Geass," Lelouch touched his face, opening one crimson eye. He smiled a little, the flash of fangs appeared, as he moved steadily closer. "I can't control it as much as father could, it tears me apart each time I use it. The most I can do is command and people obey, but it hurts me." His breathing still labored just a bit. "You understand, don't you, Suzaku?" Then Lelouch was up close to him, the crimson eyes did not have the Geass in them, they were just red and catlike. "I really don't want to be alone, Suzaku." Then the pain at his throat came, Suzaku remembered falling into darkness.

He heard the sound of someone pulling Lelouch away, a group of the guards suddenly trapping him into a corner of the crypt. "We shouldn't have let him go in without a guard," Jeremiah was yelling as he finished pushing Lelouch into a corner.

For a week, Suzaku went in and out of consciousness, he knew what it meant now, why his friend was so insistent it was him to hold him back. He walked into the palace to ask Nunnally a question. He knew that no one in the royal family would know that this was something to be shared. He talked quietly to her, her hands gripping her skirt as if trying to figure out the best way. "Killing my brother on stage as Zero, Suzaku made him go mad," she sighed. "He doesn't even know who I am anymore." Her voice was sad. "Would you really destroy your own human life to stay with my brother?"

"If it means to keep him sane, yes," Suzaku sat down near her. "Nunnally, I love you and your brother, you are family to me. How long do you plan to keep him locked in that crypt? He will find a way out, C.C. already predicted it." For a moment, she nodded kissed his cheek.

"I can't stop you from trying to stop Lelouch, but once you're a vampire, you must take him far from here," she insisted. "He's so dangerous."

* * *

><p>Suzaku felt the bite starting to sting, he walked into the cell, this time, he was certain that Lelouch was going to finish what he started. He saw him sitting with a stack of books near one end of the room. The white outfit of the Emperor Lelouch vi Britannia was in prefect condition, he looked as sane, but for a moment, though the crimson red eyes still stared out from the black hair.<p>

Reading intently, the vampire looked up and smiled. "You came back," the words were soft and happy, then almost in a strange tone, as if not sure why he was so afraid all of the sudden. "Suzaku, why did you come back? I bit you."

"I can't abandon a friend, I want to ask you something. Do you know how to turn another person into a vampire?" Suzaku felt sure that instinctually, his friend knew what to do, it was all instincts that caused this bout of sanity.

"I…" for a second, Lelouch made a face, his lips parted to show the sharp incisors that had seemed to just retract then lengthen. Thinking for a moment, it was as if asking this question caused him pain. "I do and I don't…they never told me."

"Can you make me a vampire? Lelouch, answer me, you have to…if I can keep you sane, you won't die."

The moment his friend looked up, the old Lelouch showed through, his eyes pleading at the idea. "Don't make me do it, Suzaku," he held out his hands and shook his head. "It hurt when they did it, it hurt when they changed me, I would never allow it to happen to you."

Leaving the cell, Suzaku touched he mark on his neck, for some reason, it was burning again. Leaning on the door, he looked in, for a moment, it was as if Lelouch was normal, not going to harm anyone, but the next insanity gripped him and he would stand slowly.

Bringing him blood was nearly impossible, most of the forces kept the secret, after putting him in the cell after the mock assassination. Suzaku could play Zero for all he cared, but it was the fact Lelouch had done what he set out to do. C.C. remained steadfastly nearby waiting for the vampire to stop with the insanity.

"Tell me, C2, you know more than I do about this," Suzaku brought his hands to his face. "Why is Lelouch like this?"

"There lies the problem, both vampire blood and Geass blood flow in him, both fight each other. One moment he's sane and able to tell who one is, while the other time, the vampire makes him very angry." She touched the tip of her nose and then shook her head. "I could take him away, but keeping him from people isn't going to happen."

For many reasons, Lelouch's mind was still able to hold onto this for a brief moments at a time. Watching him, Susaku could see the large among of strain all the staff had to expand, Cornelia and Schniezel were protecting their little brother from discovery. "We just can't keep him in the family crypt forever," Cornelia sat touching the insigna of the royal family that once had been on Lelouch's robes. "Suzaku, what is your plan?"

"You don't want to kill your brother, do you?" Suzaku asked both.

"No, we don't, we both love and hate him, but we never want to see Nunnally suffer. Lelouch's vampirism is something we kept secret, do you know how he came to be like this?" Schniezel asked intently, his eyes down.

"I will find out."

* * *

><p>The crypt smelled nothing like one, Lelouch would sit for hours as a set of books would be set for him. His eyes moved over the covers, some were pieces he read in high school, while others, they fogged his memory. He sat staring down and wondered though one thing, how did he come to this? He remembered being Zero, he remembered trying to make Nunnally happy and have a better world for her.<p>

He looked up again, he saw Suzaku, the smell from him was that of his bite was possibly infected. Walking up to his friend, he touched the wound and looked away. "I'm sorry," the words were soft and sad. "Suzaku, I never meant to have this happen."

Suzaku grabbed Lelouch's hand and pushed it away. "How did you become a vampire?"

The crimson eyes widened, Lelouch fell back onto his coffin, sitting staring up at his friend. "My mother made a contract with the vampires when I was a child, I'm her first born and my blood belongs to them." He stared down at the coffin. "C.C. doesn't know, I didn't know until I was taken to them."

"Taken?"

Lelouch stared up at the ceiling. "While sleeping in my room, I had a dream that I was chasing Shirley, I was chasing trying to save her, then when I woke, I saw the red eyes. I couldn't use the Geass on them, they held me down, told me my time as a human was gone."

Suzaku could see the look Lelouch gave him. "When I woke, I am as you see me, this hunger, it is unbearable, I can't even think," touching his face the former emperor showed his crimson eyes. "Seeing you makes me thirst more, and I feel as if I could rip everything apart." Lelouch's movements suddenly had trapped Suzaku against the wall, he could feel the strangest sense. "I would make you as I am…"

Without warning, the feeling of burning was at his throat, Suzaku's hands trembled, he couldn't move, he could only feel his friend's hunger overthrowing his ability to control it. Lelouch, I just want to help you, the thoughts rang into his friend's head.

Lelouch dropped him, without warning, there was tears in his eyes. "And I kill everyone in front of me, I'm truly a beast," he whispered. "Suzaku….what have I…wake up…don't leave me!"

Blood, Suzaku could taste it in his mouth, he was coughing as he looked at Lelouch. For a moment, it was like they were in class. "Lelouch?" Suzaku blinked sitting up at a desk.

"You fell asleep, do you work that hard in engineering?" Lelouch laughed as he got his books. "Don't worry, I got the notes for the class. You're the only reason I like coming again."

No, these are memories, these are the memories Lelouch recalls as a human, these are the times I see him looking happy. For a moment, he was standing talking to Shirley who was excitedly talking about one of her books for class and how she didn't understand it. Shirley? Yes, Lelouch loved her the most, loved her like any other man could.

Memories flashed and Lelouch was holding her, she was bleeding coughing as someone had caused her to shoot herself. "No…don't leave me, Shirley, please don't die," his hands held over hers.

Then Suzaku saw the night Lelouch was turned, he saw the red eyes, the vampires who came to him. "You are Lelouch vi Britannia, son of Marianne, bearer of our contract?" they asked him, one holding him from behind keeping him from using the Geass.

Lelouch was turned against his will, he stared at the mirror, his once beautiful purple eyes showing a deep crimson. His mind gripped with the realization that he was to bear his mother's curse. "Lelouch, what have you become?" he was standing before his father.

"All this I have done for your protection, yet my wayward son doesn't understand," Lelouch's father was holding his son out. "Did they truly come for you?"

"They have father," Lelouch was holding something in his hand. "They said I had means to destroy you father." Did he use those means? Yes.

Suzaku came to, he was lying on the floor, his body felt like it was stretched thin, the beautiful eyes he saw in a corner were Lelouch's. "We have to leave," Suzaku told him.


	2. Chapter 2

Part 2: The Hunt

For months, Suzaku kept Lelouch hidden from view, the white robes were replaced with a black shirt and black slacks. For some reason they hid in plain sight, moving during the day was draining, but the two had to do it. They were in a small European Village, for some reason, Lelouch had to have books.

Suzaku rented a set of rooms hoping that maybe something would jog Lelouch's mind. We're in what was France, his mother's homeland, his mother was raised here and maybe he would remember, Suzaku hoped, he couldn't hold back his own vampire impulses.

Having control was one thing that Suzaku knew his friend lacked. Like a child with a toy who didn't know how to work it, he would watch Lelouch with clumsy movements attract a victim. Moments later, he had to pry his hungry friend off the poor girl and then have Lelouch use the Geass to erase the memory.

Vampire abilities aside, the Geass was far more powerful and easier to work with. There was however the fact that Lelouch was not going to last long alone, Suzaku could tell that no matter how he looked at it, they had to stick it out.

* * *

><p>Two hundred years was a long time, Lelouch and Suzaku went from place to place, they never stayed longer than a month or more. C.C. kept them hidden as they lived out most of the time in attics.<p>

Lelouch's sanity was light and the change the world went through, including the fall of Britianna had left him mourning the loss of his family. Then again, Suzaku said that he didn't know the difference, books stacked up around Lelouch, he rarely went out, if he fed, it was always whatever Suzaku brought him.

Looking out again, the almost childlike response from Lelouch when it came to the fact he couldn't be alone. He watched Suzaku who looked at him and made sure that nothing bad happened.

"Lelouch, we better get going again," Suzaku responded and picked through some of their clothes. "Lelouch, why did you keep this?" He brought out a white hat, the one that had been part of his Imperial robes. Packing up, he found the rest of the robes. "Lelouch?"

"I couldn't throw them away," Lelouch blinked as he took them and folded the robes up and looked up putting them in a bag. "Suzaku, where are we going now?"

"I don't know, C2 is coming along with the car," Suzaku couldn't believe he was going to let his friend get away with still holding onto the outfit. "Lelouch, you should just…"

Lelouch stared at him holding onto the bag tightly. "No, I have to remember who I was, it is important to me."

They made it just outside the house, the vampires had to move, Suzaku's first time realizing that there were hunters here. Lelouch's eyes were down as he was slowly put into the car, he looked over at C.C. who was keeping the car going. She was attempting to keep him from wandering. "Where is he going?" Lelouch was about to get out when he suddenly saw the red eyes, he knew these eyes.

"Suzaku! They found us!"

Suzaku turned around. "Don't get out of the car, I'll meet you later," he heard his friend yelling. "C2, get out of here!"

* * *

><p>Suzaku could see the other vampires, he could feel them, he knew that he could get away. He made his way toward the edge of town, he could hear the sound of the car, he felt something between him and the car.<p>

Dammit, he rushed through the alley and then found the edge of the town toward the north. He hoped that C.C. could at least drive it that way, he turned to see the black car, when he saw Lelouch in the back seat looking worried, he walked up.

"Good you're…" he stopped, Lelouch shook his head, sitting right next to him was a vampire, one of the ones that had been tracking them for a long time.

Suzaku's first impulse was to run and extract Lelouch from the car, then he found himself surrounded. "Don't attempt anything, you two will be destroyed if you try to run again," one of the vampires grabbed him by the arm and held him. "Our leader wishes a word with you two."

"Lelouch, are you okay?" Suzaku was pulled next to his friend.

"I tried to use the Geass, but it didn't work," Lelouch whispered and looked up as the vampire who was sitting nearest to him pulled him from the car.

"You two are a lot of trouble to find," the vampire leader growled, he pushed them together and snarled a little. His hands jabbing at Lelouch's jacket pulling him closer. "I know you're in there Emperor Lelouch vi Britania, you're not a total lunatic if you showed your face here, are you?"

Lelouch blinked, he was confused again, he knew at one time he was a ruler of something. He pulled away and looked surprised. "I was at one time, but not anymore, I didn't know I harmed you?"

The leader of the vampires laughed shoving Lelouch at Suzaku. "Tell me which one is a childe and which one is the creator?"

They really want Lelouch to actually show his true colors, they want him to admit to creating me, Suzaku finally said something. "He's my creator, I admit it, but please, Lelouch can barely keep his mind in one piece at all."

"And why is that? His childe answering for him?" the vampire growled pulling Suzaku closer. "Doesn't he know he has to answer for his…"

"It's the Geass that does it to him," the youngest vampire muttered then was dropped, he felt his knees buckle and Lelouch caught him, they stared at each other.

The vampire leader started to laugh, he was holding himself as he and his group surrounded them more. "So it's true, the Geass does reduce him to the mentality of a child, he doesn't know the difference…"

"I know the difference between life and death," Lelouch finally yelled, he held himself standing. "My memories maybe garbled and I can't remember a lot of what I did. What crimes did I commit against you?"

The circle closed on him, he was standing holding himself together, he looked rather confused. "Please tell me what crime did I commit?"

"Your existence is a crime!"

Lelouch started to feel something beginning at the back of his mind. He was going to be killed by these vampires. He knew he was being hunted, that his release from the crypt in Japan had been a mistake. He would have felt better if he wasn't such a burden.

"Lelouch, stop thinking like that," Suzaku felt the thoughts trickle into his mind.

The vampire led them toward a house. "I think though getting you two in before sunrise would be wise. If I remember correctly, Lelouch doesn't like bright lights."

* * *

><p>The house was spacious, for many reasons Suzaku walked a head of Lelouch, he made sure his friend knew that this place was a trap to them. The next chance I get to get us out of Paris, I will do it, he looked around and saw Lelouch staring for a moment at some images, these were vaguely familiar to him.<p>

The vampire laughed a little, he brought the younger vampire's chin up so they were face to face. "You remember don't you, Lelouch?"

A moment later, Suzaku saw Lelouch holding his eyes closed and moving away, a piece of a memory was being returned. "I was selfish, I was so very selfish," he backed against Suzaku.

"What did you do?" Suzaku growled holding his friend.

The leader laughed. "Reminded him of who he belongs to, and what vampire orders him." The vampire pulled himself forward, his red eyes fixing on Lelouch's creation. "As for you, I don't think you're part of the contract regardless of how that is. You are free to go, but Lelouch may not leave."

"You can't do that!" Suzaku finally stood between the master and Lelouch. "I'm Suzaku Kurugi, assigned guard to Lelouch vi Britannia. He may have created me, but I'm refusing to leave my lord's side."

"Suzaku, stop," Lelouch's voice was slightly stronger. "Get away, please you…"

"Fine, he will stay," the vampire master grabbed Lelouch's waist pulling him toward Suzaku. "Just know this, your master's blood is mine, no matter how much he fights himself."

* * *

><p>The bedroom was large, Suzaku could see the two beds side by side, Lelouch was sitting on the edge of a bed looking around the room. Their bags were lying on a couch, he reached instinctually for the bag containing the emperor's robes. He buried his face in the bag hiding it from Suzaku. "I'm sorry, so sorry, I didn't mean for this to happen," Lelouch whispered to Suzaku.<p>

"No point in regretting it Lelouch," Suzaku sighed sitting next to him. "What do you remember?"

"The vampires name is Treza, I think, he was the vampire that made me a vampire," Lelouch touched his face with his hands. "I don't rightly remember too much about it, all I know is that I was in pain. That he said that the Geass could be controlled better once I accepted that I am a vampire." His fingers traced around his cheek and then touching his fangs. "All I know is that, the first time he made me hunt, I was afraid of him."

Treza was something Suzaku couldn't stand. "Lelouch, we have to leave here."

"How? Treza tricked me to be a vampire, and he holds power over this place," Lelouch finally spoke up. "I remember something else, something that makes my skin crawl, Treza likes boys." For many reasons Lelouch let his head drop a little, his mouth felt like he had cotton in it. "I know that he also likes girls, but he prefers boy's blood above any other, especially ones who fight back. That was how he got me to hunt the first time."

Lelouch only remembered vague images, he remembered Treza's hands on his shoulder asking him if he wanted to control the Geass properly. To this the young emperor nodded, he didn't listen to what anyone else said about it. He accepted the blood contract, he accepted a lot of what Treza told him.

Then again, as the Lelouch lying in the bed felt at the moment, he felt fooled. He knew there was a difference between him and the emperor that he had been. He remembered something horrible the night of his change, something that caused him to block the memory.

Kallen! Kallen was pregnant, Lelouch had known and kept it hidden from the rest of the family. He made one mistake as a human and he had to hide her from the pain. Though while he was turning from human to vampire, he attacked her, he in remorse almost tried to kill himself. "Lelouch!" He looked up at Suzaku as he lay on the bed staring up at the ceiling.

"Do you have a child?" Suzaku blinked thinking again about something. "I remembered you refused to leave Tokyo Settlement two hundred years ago, you kept saying you had to see Kallen."

"Took you that long to figure it out?" Lelouch finally brought his knees up to his chin. "Yes, you could say I had a child, Atalei was her name, Nunnally named her and she was heir to my throne, even though I didn't want her to be. I wanted Atalei to have a normal life, last time I saw her she was five years old."

For a moment, Suzaku put his fingers over something that had been coming out of the bag, it was a picture of a little girl with large purple eyes wearing the royal crest of the Britanna royal family. Lelouch carried these because they contained what made him human at one time, especially a daughter he never truly met.

Empress Atalei vi Britania's rule was actually quite short, due to her bouts with illness since childhood, but she suddenly disappeared when she was 29. It was as if someone mentioned that her father was the Demon Emperor Lelouch and in her shame she declined the throne and named a new successor was the rumor. Suzaku could remember a hundred reasons why the girl left her post.

Lelouch and Suzaku during her rule still hid in the palace, pretending to be Zero, he had to hide his friend from discovery. Then again, it was the fact that Lelouch preyed on animals.

During those times, it was not as if they had a choice, Suzaku had to play a part, then while Lelouch's sanity dwindled down, they had to pack and leave. Something though still made sense, why would Lelouch pick now for his memories to return or at least some of his mind return?

Walking into a hall, Suzaku could see the vampires who were preparing for something. He could hear the sound of faint sobs, he went into a room and noticed a girl sitting very still in the room, her hands bound.

C.C. would be near us, I hope, he looked around and noticed C.C. was standing near by. "Its Lelouch's meal, at least that's what Treza thinks," she walked up helping to unbind the girl. "He's still trying to make Lelouch completely in his power again." She pulled the girl away and soon she was freed into the living area.

"Waiting for you, what kept you?" Suzaku asked.

"Had to keep something hidden. She's been following us for awhile," C.C.'s hands were on the rope still. "Been tailing us since Prague, she's relentless and telling her the truth doesn't really work."

"Who?" Suzaku asked finally he looked around. "That vampire Treza, what does he have to do with Lelouch's memories coming back."

C.C. looked around and gave a concerned look. "You mean, Lelouch started to remember?"


End file.
